Justin Trudeau Confirms Canada Has Granted Asylum To Saudi Teen

Tonya Becker |Friday, January 11, 2019

Rahaf Mohammed Al Qunun is currently in the care of United Nations

The woman, who said her passport was seized after being stopped at an airport in Bangkok on Saturday, had barricaded herself in an airport hotel room and launched a social media campaign, drawing attention from around the world.

Alqunun refused to meet with her father, who arrived in the Thai capital on Tuesday.

Confined to an airport transit hotel, Alqunun conducted an online appeal for help, garnering tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and enough public and diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her temporarily under the protection of United Nations officials.

It garnered enough public and diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her temporarily under the protection of United Nations officials, who granted her refugee status on Wednesday.

There was "no possibility" that al-Qunun would return to Australia with her yesterday, said Payne, who declined to speculate on a timeframe for giving the Saudi teen asylum if she were granted refugee status.

The department said it will "consider this referral in the usual way, as it does with all UNHCR referrals".

Her tweet garnered plenty of reactions on social media, which speculated the reasons for the account deactivation.

Global News reached out to the UNHCR Canada for a comment, but a spokesperson said due to "protection reasons" the agency can not talk about her case.

Thai authorities had initially threatened to deport her after she arrived in Bangkok from Kuwait last weekend. The teenager feared the presence of her father and brother in Thailand posed a new risk to her plan to escape her family to a different country.

And the Job for Hosting the Oscars Goes to…No One
The Academy nearly reconsidered Hart after he agreed to sit down with talk show host Ellen Degeneres in early January. After almost 3 decades, the Oscars producers have decided that the show must go on, even without a host.

"We are in close contact with partners about her situation".

A UNHCR representative said "the process is still ongoing".

She also said her family abused her physically and psychologically, at one point locking her in her room for six months after she cut her hair and rebelled against wearing the hijab. Saudi religious law forbids her to travel alone without permission of her male guardian.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun's attempt to flee the ultra-conservative kingdom has been embraced by rights groups as a beacon of defiance against repression.

When pressed if Australia had cancelled al-Qunun's visa after she was arrested, Payne declined to comment.

Wong said every case had to be considered on its merits.

She also opened up about living with her family in Saudi Arabia, describing it as hard as she had no freedom. He is obligated to do everything in his power to advocate, both privately and publicly, and to use the vast leverage that football has, with the Bahrain government, his own government, he's a Bahrainian national, and also with the Thai government to release Hakeem. Surachate said that police could not confiscate her phone because she was not being detained and said that the Saudi diplomat's remark was "just an opinion" and "nothing to be taken seriously".

Thailand, which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, has a mixed history of handling asylum seekers.

Bahrain made a request to have him extradited and he is in jail, waiting for a hearing to decide his case.

Repeating Radio Waves From Deep Space Intrigue Scientists
The new discovery, reported in the journal Nature , was made by a Canadian-led team of astronomers on the hunt for FRBs. The astrophysical mysteries are thought to originate from far outside our Milky Way, but their source remains unclear.

Jordan tame Syria to reach Asian Cup knockouts
Sandesh Jhingan had the first big chance of the game as he escaped his marker during a corner, but failed to keep his header down. It was not that the Indian defence was in disarray but they would have done well to clear the ball at first instance.

Kevin Hart says he won't be hosting Academy Awards
My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. "Regardless, Academy, I'm thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. That came after she informed him that organisers had told her they would be "thrilled" if he got back on board.

Thousands of stars turning into crystals
Dr Tremblay said: 'This is the first direct evidence that white dwarfs crystallise, or transition from liquid to solid. Scientists trained the Gaia space telescope on 15,000 white dwarf candidates within around 300 light years of Earth .

Sarri tells Chelsea hierarchy to sign two players
Maurizio Sarri has branded Bayern Munich "disrespectful" for their relentless pursuit of Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi. He told a press conference today: "As you know very well I am not in control of the transfer market".